Thanks all!
Chris
I either have to diffuse like crazy or have trouble with highlights. Underexposure is often needed but darks block before lights are clear of burn-out.
You've managed shodows, with consequent nice relief, without the highlights going into orbit.
Is there anything like 16 bit processing, or HDR you're using, which helps with that?
These are stacked from regular out-of camera 8-bit/channel jpgs, with a slight "twist" or two. Because of the variety of scales.. some colored only by pigment, others (the blues ones) with significant iridescence it did require a bit more fiddling with the light than normal. This was on a "vertical" apparatus, and a tall "cylinder" of Lee diffusion material was placed around the subject on the stage (2-3 inches in diameter, open at the top, unlike the domes I sometimes use). Three of the Ikea lights were used. The "main light" was very close to the diffusion material and slightly above the wing level. This provided a smaller light-source (but still pretty diffuse) than if the light were positioned farther away. That, plus the low angle gave nice relief (sense of depth). But as you mentioned, then the shadows risk going too black. So the other two Ikea lights were used to provide sufficient fill light without destroying the main lighting effect. Moving them closer and farther away, trying different angles while observing the effect and shooting test shots eventually determined the best position of those lights. I couldn't avoid the bright wing vein with the lighting (even tried a single polarizer on the lens) so I shot an additional stack of the wing vein section at a darker exposure in case I wanted to use that later on. The full image was stacked both Pmax and Dmap. The bulk of the image is Pmax (especially the parts with the "hairs"). The top left scales looked better in Dmap so that was used there. The bright veins were pretty bad in Pmax, but looked better Dmap so that was used there as well. (So I didn't end up incorporating the darker exposure for this version.) In all stacks the blue scales were just a bit too bright, so they were darkened via a second layer that had some levels and curves done to it.
The key really was the ability to change the lighting look with those flexible Ikea lights while observing the effect. Moving them in right up against the diffuser give a much different look than when they are pulled back a few inches. Slight angle shifts make a very noticeable difference. It's also useful to play around with the diameter and height of the diffusion "cylinder" and how close or far it is placed to the subject.
to all!)
